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Gutting And Edmundson

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Gary Gutting and Mark Edmundson the authors of the essays “What is College For?” and “On the Uses of a Liberal Education” respectively expressed their opinions on how college isn’t what it used to be. Gutting said some universities don’t teach what they are supposed to; they make some classes compulsory so students end up taking classes that are unnecessary. In result when students are given these particular courses as they become disinterested and aim for average instead of learning the material. Gutting also points out lack of academic engagement is why people misinterpret the existence of the college. He says both students and professors need to work together in order to keep the true meaning of college, according to him is to nourish a world of intellectual culture. Edmundson states in his essay that students lack intellectual curiosity. He blames the schools by saying colleges in America are using the consumer mentality to increase their enrollment, but this is affecting the quality of education students are receiving. But he also blames the students for not challenging their conventional thought in fear of being invalidated. He then goes on to call those students “not …show more content…

Gutting and Edmundson both blame the structure of the education system, but at the same time it sounds like the change needs to come only from students. In their book I wouldn’t always be their “ideal” student that is depending on the classes they would teach me. Like Gutting said colleges sometimes give unnecessary courses, so it can be hard to be interested in something that in no way relates to your major. If one of the authors were instructors in one of my unnecessary” classes they probably would make comments that I’m “weak minded” or “not genius”. However, if they taught in one of my classes that I actually have an interest in I might have a shot of being their perfect student they have conversations about on the

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